"In the past, we always did three revenue forecasts per biennium," said state Office of Management and Budget director Pam Sharp. "But in light of everything that's going on, we've decided we should do four in a biennium."

Sharp said the new forecast is important, in light of drought conditions over parts of North Dakota. But she said it’s also a good practice to have more frequent forecast updates.

"We don't have any expectations of using this for an allotment of anything like that," Sharp said. "That's not the situation."

Before the 2017 Legislative session, there were two budget allotments.

"We just want to have some assurance that the forecast that we did last winter is still tracking," Sharp said. "We want to check it before anything gets too far out of whack."

Sharp said the state has issued a “request for proposals” for a revenue forecasting agency. The deadline for submitting an RFP is October 3rd. She said it would be for a two-year contract, with a potential two-year extension.